Clark, William and Lewis, Meriwether

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Clark, William and Lewis, Meriwether

Excerpts from The Journals of Lewis and Clark

Edited by Bernard DeVoto

Published in 1953

By 1800 Europeans and Americans understood the basic geography of most of the world's continents, with the exception of the western two-thirds of North America, the interior of Africa, the Arctic, and Antarctica. France, England, Russia, Spain, and the United States were very interested in the region beyond the Mississippi River in North America for its commercial potential but had not yet explored it extensively. Even Native American communities knew only their immediate areas—the land that they hunted or cultivated regularly. They too lacked a continental perspective.

Thomas Jefferson, obsessed with cartography (mapmaking) and natural history, understood the necessity of exploring and mapping the vast region west of the Mississippi River. When Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore the western region of the continent, he believed that the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia were the tallest peaks in North America; that the woolly mammoth and other prehistoric creatures might still roam the Dakotas; that the Great Plains featured volcanoes and a mountain of pure salt; that the Rio Grande, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers all rose from a single source; and that a navigable water route connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

On January 18, 1803, Jefferson asked Congress for authorization to send a military expedition to explore along the Missouri River to its source in the Rocky Mountains, and then down the nearest westward-flowing river to the Pacific Ocean. The president also asked for an appropriation (an amount of public funds set aside for a specific purpose) of twenty-five hundred dollars to fund the expedition. Jefferson had two purposes for the proposed mission: to prepare the way for the extension of the American fur trade throughout the area to be explored; and to advance geographical knowledge of the continent.

To command the expedition, Jefferson chose his private secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis (1774–1809). With the president's permission, Lewis then invited his old friend William Clark (1770–1838) to be the coleader of the expedition. The exploratory group included twenty-seven young, unmarried soldiers; George Drouillard, a man of mixed Native American and European heritage, who was a hunter and an interpreter; and Clark's African American slave, York. In addition, a corporal and five privates as well as several French boatmen were to accompany the expedition during the first season and then return with its records and scientific specimens. The Corps of Discovery began its historic journey on May 14, 1804. The journals of Lewis and Clark were the first eyewitness account of the West and its resources and native inhabitants.

Things to remember while reading the excerpts from The Journals of Lewis and Clark:

In April 1803, shortly after the Lewis and Clark expedition was commissioned, the United States acquired the Louisiana Territory, approximately 800,000 acres of land stretching west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States.
•At the time no one knew precisely how large the Louisiana Territory was or what its resources were. Today, the Louisiana Purchase is considered Jefferson's greatest achievement in his first term as president.
Before the Louisiana Purchase, the half-million American settlers living west of the Appalachian Mountains relied on treaties with the Spanish (who owned the Louisiana Territory before ceding it to France in 1800) to transport their goods to market via the Mississippi River and New Orleans.
The selected journal entries provide a glimpse into the trip west in 1804 as well as the return home in 1806.
Though both Lewis and Clark were educated men, they did not adhere to any conventions of grammar or spelling in their journals. You can make sense of many of the oddly spelled words by sounding them out. Capital letters appear throughout the text, but not necessarily at the beginning of sentences. Large spaces between words sometimes signify the separation of sentences without periods. Don't let the unusual appearance of this text keep you from enjoying Lewis and Clark's sense of wonder with the new land and the people they encountered.
Non-italicized words are those that were added to the text by the original editor of the Lewis and Clark journals, Nicholas Biddle, based on explanations provided by George Shannon, one of the members of the expedition.

Excerpts from The Journals of Lewis and Clark

JUNE 17TH SUNDAY 1804

we Set out early and proceeded on one mile & came too to make oars, & repair our cable & toe rope &c.&c. which was necessary for the Boat &Perogues, Sent out Sjt. Pryor and Some men to get ash timber for ores, and Set some men to make a Toe Rope out of the Cords of a Cable which had been provided by Capt. Lewis at Pittsburg for the Cable of the boat. George Drewyer our hunter and one man came in with 2 Deer & a Bear, also a young Horse, they had found in the Prarie, this horse has been in the Prarie a long time and is fat, I Suppose, he has been left by Some war party against theOsage, This is a Crossing place for the war parties against that nation from the Saukees, Aiaouez, [Iowas] & Souix. The party is much afflicted withBoils, and Several have theDeassentary, which I contribute to the water The Countrey about this place is butifull on the river rich & well timbered on theS.S. about two miles back a Prarie coms which is rich and interspursed with groves of timber, the count[r]y rises at 7 or 8 miles Still further back and is rolling. on theL. S. the high lands & Prarie coms. in the bank of the river and continus back, well watered and abounds in Deer Elk & Bear. The Ticks & Musquiters are verry troublesome.

&c.

&c.: Etc.

Perogue

Perogue: Spelled pirogue; a canoe made out of a hollowed tree trunk.

Osage

Osage: American Indian tribe in Missouri.

Boil

Boil: A painful, pus-filled inflammation of the skin usually caused by an infection.

Deassentary

Deassentary: Spelled dysentery; an infection causing pain, fever, and severe diarrhea.

S.S.

S.S.: Starboard side; the right side of the boat.

L.S.

L.S.: Larboard side; Misspelling of the left side of the boat.

Purseute

Purseute: Pursuit.

Malady

Malady: Illness.

Franzey

Franzey: Spelled frenzy; agitation.

14TH August TUESDAY 1804—

The men Sent to the Mahar Town last evining has not returned we Conclude to send a Spye to Know the Cause of their delay, at about 12 oClock the Party returned and informd. us that they Could not find the Indians, nor any fresh Sign, those people have not returned from their Buffalow hunt. Those people having no houses no Corn or anything more than the graves of their ansesters to attach them to the old Village. Continue inpurseute of the Buffalow longer than others who has greater attachments to their native village. The ravages of the Small Pox (which Swept off 400 men & Womin & children) has reduced this nation not exceeding 300 men and left them to the insults of their weaker neighbours, which before was glad to be on friendly turms with them. I am told when this fatalmalady was among them theyCarried theirfranzey to verry extroadinary length, not only of burning their Village, but they put their wives & children to Death with a view of their all going together to some better Countrey. they burry their Dead on the top of high hills and rais Mounds on the top of them. The cause or way those people took the Small Pox is uncertain, the most Probable, from Some other nation by means of a warparty.

[Clark] 25TH August SATTURDAY 1804.—

A cloudy morning Capt. Lewis & Myself concluded to go and See the Mound which was Viewed with Suchturror by all the different Nations in this quarter, we Selected [nine men to go along] from the top of this High land the Countrey is leavel & open as far as can be Seen, except Some few rises at a great Distance, and the Mound which the Indians Call Mountain of little people or Spirits, at 4 miles we Crossed the Creek 23 yards wide in an extensive Valley andContined on at two miles further our Dog was so Heeted and fatigued we was obliged [to] Send him back to the Creek, at 12 oClock we arrived at the hill Capt. Lewis much fatigued from heat the day it being verry hot & he being in a debilitated State from the Precautions he was obliged to take to prevent the effects of the Cobalt, &Minl Substance which had like to have poisoned him two days ago his want of water, and Several of the men complaining of Great thirst, determined us to make for the first water. We proceeded on to the Place we Campd last night and Stayed all night.

The reagular form of this hill would in Some measure justify a belief that it owed its orrigin to the hand of man; but as the earth and loos pebbles and other substances of which it was Composed, bore an exact resemblance to the Steep Ground which border on the Creek in its neighbourhood we concluded it was most probably the production of nature.

The only remarkable Charactoristic of this hill admiting it to be a natural production is that it is insulated or Seperated a considerable distance from any other, which is verry unusial in the natural order or disposition of the hills. [Clark is describing Spirit Mound near Vermillion, South Dakota.]

[Clark] 25TH SEPT.—

all well, raised a Flag Staff & made aorning or Shade on a Sand bar in the mouth of Teton River, for the purpose of Speeking with the Indians under, the Boat Crew on board at 70 yards Distance from the bar The 5 Indians which we met last night Continued, about 11 OClock theIt & 2d Chief Came we gave them Some of our Provisions to eat, they gave us great Quantitis of Meet Some of which was Spoiled we feel much at a loss for the want of an interpeter the one we have can Speck but little.

Turror

Turror: Misspelling of terror.

Contined

Contined: Misspelling of continued.

Minl

Minl: Mineral.

Orning

Orning: Misspelling of awning.

It

It: First.

Agreeable to the useal Custom

Agreeable to the useal Custom: As is customary, or usually done.

Curtail

Curtail: To cut short.

Cloake

Cloake: Spelled cloak; disguise or cover.

Met in Council at 12 oClock and after Smokeing,agreeable to the useal Custom, Cap. Lewis proceeded to Deliver a Speech which we [were] oblige[d] toCurtail for want of a good interpeter all ourparty paraded. gave a Medal to the Grand Chief Calld. in Indian Un ton gar Sar bar in French Beeffe nure Black Buffalow....

Envited those Cheifs on board to Show them our boat and such Curiossities as was Strange to them, we gave them 1/4 a glass of whiskey which they appeared to be verry fond of, Sucked the bottle after it was out & Soon began to be troublesome, one the 2d Cheif assumeing Drunkness, as aCloake for his rascally intentions I wentwith those Cheifs (in one of the Perogues with 5 men—3 & 2 Inds.) (which left the boat with great reluctiance) to Shore with a view of reconsileing those men to us, as Soon as I landed the Perogue three of their young MenSeased the Cable of the Perogue, (in which we had Pressents &c) the Chiefs Soldr. Huged the mast, and the 2d Chief was verryinsolent both in words &justures (pretended Drunkenness & staggered up against me) declareing I should not go on, Stateing he had not receved presents sufficent from us, his justures were of Such a personal nature I felt My self Compeled to Draw my Sward (and Made a Signal to the boat to prepare for action)....

TUESDAY JANUARY THE 1ST 1805—

The Day was ushered in by the Descharge of two Cannon, weSuffered 16 men with theirMusick to visit the 1st Village for the purpose of Danceing,by as they Said the particular request of the Chiefs of that Village, about 11 oClock I with an inturpeter & two men walked up to the Village, (my views were to alay Some little Miss understanding which had taken placethro jelloucy and mortification as to our treatment towards them I found them much pleased at the Danceing of our men, I ordered my black Servent to Dance which amused the Croud Verry much, and Somewhat astonished them, that So large a man should be active &c. &c. a Chief returnd from a Mission on which they had been Sent to meet a large party (150) ofGross Ventres who were on their way down from their Camps 10 Miles above to revenge on the Shoe tribe an injury which they had received by a Shoe man Steeling a Gros Ventres Girl, those Chiefs gave the pipe [and] turned the party back, after Delivering up the Girl, which the Shoe Chief had taken and given to them for that purpose. I returned in the evening....

Seased

Seased: Spelled seized; took.

Insolent

Insolent: Rude or disrespectful.

Justures

Justures: Misspelling of gestures.

Suffered

Suffered: Allowed.

Musick

Musick: Musical instruments.

By as they Said the particular request of the Chiefs of that Village

By as they Said the particular request of the Chiefs of that Village: The men said that the chiefs had requested music for dancing.

Thro jelloucy and mortification as to our treatment towards them

Thro jelloucy and mortification as to our treatment towards them: The Indians were not happy with how they had been treated.

Gross Ventres

Gross Ventres: Spelled Gros Ventre; a Great Plains American Indian tribe.

Chinnooks

Chinnooks: Spelled Chinook; a Native American group originally inhabiting western Washington and Oregon.

Clatsops

Clatsops: American Indian tribe within the Chinook Nation.

Squars

Squars: Spelled squaws; a disparaging (offensive) term for a Native American woman.

Abhor

Abhor: Hate, or regard with disgust.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 2lsT 1805

A cloudy morning most of theChinnooks leave our camp and return home, the Wind blew hard from the S. E. which with the addition of the flood tide raised verry high waves which broke with great violence against the shore throwing water into our camp the forepart of this day Cloudy at 12 oClock it began to rain and continud all day moderately, Several Indians Visit us to day of different nations or Bands Some of the Chiltz Nation who reside on the Sea Coast near Point Lewis, Several of theClatsops who reside on the Opposit Side of the Columbia imediately opposit to us, and a Cheif from the Grand rapid to whome we gave a Medal.

An old woman & Wife to a Cheif of the Chunnooks came and made a Camp near ours. She brought with her 6 youngSquars (her daughters & nieces) I believe for the purpose of Gratifying the passions of the men of our party and receving for those indulgiences Such Small [presents] as She (the old woman) thought proper to accept of.

Those people appear to View Sensuality as a Necessary evel, and do not appear toabhor it as a Crime in the unmarried State.The young females are fond of the attention of our men and appear to meet the sincereapprobation of their friends and connections, for obtaining their favours, the Womin of the Chinnoook Nation have handsom faces low and badly made with large legs & thighs which are generally Swelled from a Stopage of the circulation in the feet (which are Small) by maney Strands of Beeds or curious Strings which are drawn tight around the leg above the ankle, their legs are alsopicked with defferent figures, I saw on the left arm of a Squar the following letters J. Bowman, all those are considered by the natives of this quarter as handsom deckerations, and a woman without those deckorations is Considered as among the lower Class....

MONDAY (TUESDAY) JANUARY 7TH 1806.

Last eveningDrewyer visited his traps and caught a beaver and an otter; the beaver was large and fat we have thereforefared sumptuously today; this we consider a great prize for another reason, it being a full grown beaver was well supplyed with the materials for making bate with which to catch others. To prepare beaver bate, thecastor or bark stone is taken as the base, this is gently pressed out of the bladderlike bag which contains it, into aphiol of 4 ounces with a wide mouth; if you have them you will put from four to six stone in a phiol of that capacity, to this you will add half a nutmeg, a douzen or 15 grains of cloves and thirty grains of cinimon finely pulverized, stir them well together and then add as much ardent sperits to the composition as will reduce it the consistency [of] mustard prepared for the table; when thus prepared it resembles mustard precisely to all appearance. when you cannot procure a phiol a bottle made of horn or a tight earthen vessel willanswer, in all cases it must beexcluded from the air or it will soonloose it's virtue ; it is fit foruce immediately it is prepared but becomes much stronger and better in about four or five days and will keep for months provided it be perfectly secluded from the air. when cloves are not to be had use double the quantity of Allspice, and when no spice can be obtained the bark of the root ofsausafras. it appears to me that the principal uce of the spices is only to give a variety to the scent of the bark stone and if so the macevineller and other sweet-smelling spices might be employed with equal advantage.

Approbation

Approbation: Approval.

Picked

Picked: Tattooed.

Drewyer

Drewyer: George Drewyer, a hunter and interpreter with the expedition.

Fared sumptuously

Fared sumptuously: Had a good dinner.

Castor

Castor: Gland in a beaver that secretes castoreum, a strong-smelling oily substance used in perfumes and once thought to have medicinal purposes.

Phiol

Phiol: Spelled phial; a vial, or small vessel.

Answer

Answer: Fill the need; will also work.

Excluded from the air

Excluded from the air: Kept in an airtight container.

Loose it's virtue

Loose it's virtue: Spoil.

Uce

Uce: Misspelling of use.

Sausafras

Sausafras: Spelled sassafras; a type of tree bark that has a spicy flavor, like root beer.

Vineller

Vineller: Misspelling of Vanilla.

[Lewis] TUESDAY APRIL IST 1806.

We were visited by several canoes of natives in the course of the day;. most of whom were decending the river with their women and children. they informed us that they resided at the great rapids [theDalles] and that their relations at that place were much streightened at that place for want of food; that they had consumed their winter store of dryed fish and that those of the present season had not yet arrived. I could not learn wheather they took the sturgeon but presume if they do it is in but small quantities as they complained much of the scarcity of food among them. they informed us that the nations above them were in the same situation & that they did not expect the Salmon to arrive untill the full of the next moon which happens on the 2d of May. we did not doubt thevaracity of these people who seemed to be on their way with their families and effects in surch ofsubsistence which they find it easy to procure in this fertile valley.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 25TH 1806

last evening the indians entertained us with setting the fir trees on fire. they have a great number of dry limbs near their bodies which when Set on fire create a very sudden and emmence blaize from bottom to top of those tall trees. they are a boutifull object in this situation at night. this exhibition remi[n]de[d] me of a display of firewo[r]ks. the nativs told us that their object in Setting those trees on fire was to bring fair weather for our journey. We collected our horses and set out at an early hour this morning. one of our guides complained of being unwell, a Symptom which I did not much like as such complaints with an indian is generally theprelude to his abandoning any enterprise with which he is not well pleased. we left 4 of those indians at our encampment they promised to pursue us in a fiew hours....

FRIDAY 22ND AUGUST 1806

as I was about to leave the cheifs [of the Chyennes] lodge he requested me to Send Some traders to them, that their country was full of beaver and they would then be encouraged to kill beaver, but now they had no use for them as they could get nothing for their skins and did not know well, how to catch beaver. if the white people would come amongst them they would become acquainted and they [the white people] would learn them how to take the beaver. I promised the Nation that I would inform their Great father the President of the U States, and he would have them Supplied with goods, and mentioned in what manner they would be Supplied &c. &c....

Varacity

Varacity: Spelled veracity; truthfulness.

Subsistence

Subsistence: Goods to sustain life; in this case food.

Prelude

Prelude: An action that occurs prior to some other action.

Kickapoos

Kickapoos: A Native American tribe.

SUNDAY 21ST SEPTR. 1806

rose early this morning colected our men several of them had axcepted of the invitation of the citizens and visited their families. at half after 7 A. M we Set out. passed 12 canoes ofKickapoos assending on a hunting expedition. Saw Several persons also stock of different kind on the bank which reviv'd the party very much. at 3 P M we met two large boats assending. at 4 P M we arived in Sight of St. Charles, the party rejoiced at the Sight of this hospita[b]l[e] villageplyed thear ores with greatdexterity and we Soon arived opposit the Town this day being Sunday we observed a number of Gentlemen and ladies walking on the bank, we saluted the Village by threerounds from ourblunder-buts and the Small arms of the party, and landed near the lower part of the town. we were met by great numbers of the inhabitants, we found them excessively polite. we received invitations from Several of those Gentlemen. Mr. Querie under took to Supply our party withprovisions &c. the inhabitants of this village appear much delighted at our return and seem tovie with each other in their politeness to us all. we came only 48 miles to day. the banks of the river thinly settled &c. (some Settlements since we went up). [DeVoto, pp. 8, 19, 23, 35–36, 75, 289–90, 303, 337, 409, 463, 477]

Plyed

Plyed: Spelled plied; worked.

Dexterity

Dexterity: Skill.

Rounds

Rounds: Shots.

Blunder buts

Blunder buts: Spelled blunderbuss; a short musket of wide bore and flaring muzzle used to scatter shot at close range.

Provisions

Provisions: Food and supplies needed for the next leg of the journey.

Vie

Vie: Compete.

What happened next . . .

Lewis and Clark's expedition was only the first to chronicle the geography and nature of the West; other explorers soon followed. Between 1806 and 1807 Zebulon Pike (1779–1813) led an expedition west of the Mississippi River that extended into northern New Spain. Pike is most remembered for his widely circulated report on the Rio Grande, his description of the Great Plains as a desert, and his discovery of the mountain peak in present-day Colorado that now bears his name. From 1819 to 1820 Stephen Long's expedition led soldiers and scientists west across the central Plains to the Rocky Mountains, also exploring vast portions of the Mississippi and Missouri River valleys. Naturalists on this trip collected and reported new information about plants, animals, soil, climate, and geology. By the mid-1820s, Long's journey had prompted a series of books, maps, and scientific articles that aided the later investigations of men such as explorer John C. Frémont (see John C. Frémont entry in this chapter).

Did you know . . .

Eight or nine counterfeit (fake) editions of The History of the Expedition Under the Commands of Captains Lewis and Clark were published.
The secretary of war granted William Clark a lieutenancy—not a captaincy as Jefferson had promised for the expedition. Nevertheless, Lewis demanded that he and Clark both serve as captains. None of those under their command questioned that Lewis and Clark had equal authority.
After the expedition, Clark was appointed brigadier general of the militia and the agent of the United States for Indian Affairs. Lewis was appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory.

Consider the following . . .

Did Lewis and Clark hold prejudices against the Indians?
How would you characterize the meetings between Lewis and Clark and the Indians? Were they friendly, formal, respectful?
Did Lewis and Clark believe that all Indians share the same culture?
What difficulties did Lewis and Clark encounter?